Source: Dodgers after Ryan Dempster  —  CHICAGO — The Los Angeles Dodgers have proposed a trade for Chicago Cubs starter Ryan Dempster, a baseball source told ESPNChicago.com on Thursday.  —  The Cubs have been clear their top priority on the trade market is adding young pitching.

Padres going to try to re-sign Quentin, Street to multi-year deals  —  The Reds, Indians and Pirates are among the many teams to have inquired about the Padres' Carlos Quentin.  (Getty Images)  —  The Padres are now planning to try to extend veteran stars Carlos Quentin and Huston Street …

Nats GM: Sitting Strasburg will be ‘my decision’  —  WASHINGTON — The decision whether the National League East-leading Washington Nationals will shut down prized starter Stephen Strasburg has apparently been made.  The when is all that remains.  —  General Manager Mike Rizzo told ESPN …

Phillips' 5 RBIs Help Reds Rally Past D-Backs 7-6  —  CINCINNATI (AP) — Brandon Phillips homered and had five RBIs, then scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning on Todd Frazier's single to help the Cincinnati Reds rally from a six-run deficit to pull out a 7-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Sources: Cole Hamels talks intensify  —  PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies and Cole Hamels' agent, John Boggs, have picked up the pace of discussions in recent days, sources said, and those intensified discussions are an indication the Phillies have started a major push to sign Hamels before the July 31 trade deadline.

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Baseball Wives’ star Anna Benson says husband filed for divorce; kids registered as ‘homeless’ for school  —  Anna and Kris Benson in 2006 after Kris was traded by the New York Mets to the Baltimore Orioles.AP  —  The woman who said she would sleep with the entire …

Mark Reynolds' 2-run single rallies O's by Twins … MINNEAPOLIS — Mark Reynolds' two-run single in the eighth inning backed a strong performance from Wei-Yin Chen and rallied the Baltimore Orioles to a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.  —  Chen (8-5) gave up three runs …

2012 Trade Value: #25-#21  —  So, from the land of embarrassing mistakes comes this - I screwed up yesterday and copied the wrong part of the list in to the #30-#26 post and didn't catch it until this morning.  Kipnis, Moore, Upton, Moustakas, and Gio were actually 25-21, and for whatever reason …

Hernandez, Montero lead Mariners past Royals, 6-1  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Felix Hernandez won his fourth straight decision, Jesus Montero homered and drove in four runs as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-1 Thursday.  —  Hernandez (8-5) is 4- with a 1.37 ERA …

Wright hits two homers, Dicky wins 13th in Mets' victory  —  WASHINGTON - David Wright homered twice and had five RBIs and R.A. Dickey won his league-leading 13th game and the New York Mets broke a six-game losing streak with a 9-5 win over the Washington Nationals on Thursday.

Cubs Sign Juan Carlos Paniagua For $1.5 Million  —  Dominican righthander Juan Carlos Paniagua has parlayed a suspension into a bigger bonus for a second time, signing today with the Cubs for $1.5 million.  —  Like any international signing, Paniagua will still require a background investigation …

An Inner Circle for the Hall of Fame  —  By standards of the museum, all players honored in the baseball Hall of Fame are equal.  Once a man's in, he's in and all players get the same plaque.  There is no delineation between the Mickey Mantles and Tommy McCarthys of Cooperstown.  Should this be?

Carl Crawford soldiers on  —  Perseveres through bashing, trade talk  —  Carl Crawford would be lying if he said the thought hadn't at least flickered in his mind.  —  Did I make a mistake?  —  After all, Crawford had options.  As the most desirable free agent on the market two winters ago …